Are Phosphates good or bad? Have they gotten a bad name or
well deserved reputation?
Well let’s first look at what phosphates are.
Ok here is the bad:
Phosphates are a primary nutrient source for many forms of
algae, particularly green hair species, so when high concentrations are allowed
to accumulate in an aquarium, it opens the door for aggressive algae blooms to
occur.
Phosphates promote the proliferation of brown algae in the
tissue of corals, masking the natural color pigments of the corals and causing
the coral to turn brown. It also restricts the calcium carbonate uptake
necessary to enable the coral skeleton to grow.
But is there a good?
Here is something interesting:
Phosphate is useful in animal cells as a buffering
agent. Phosphate salts that are commonly used for preparing buffer
solutions at cell pHs include Na2HPO4, NaH2PO4, and the corresponding
potassium salts.
An important occurrence of phosphates in biological systems
is as the structural material of bone and teeth. These structures are made of
crystalline calcium phosphate in the form of hydroxyapatite. The
hard dense enamel of mammalian teeth consists of fluoroapatite, a hydroxy
calcium phosphate where some of the hydroxyl groups have been
replaced by fluoride ions.
Insect exoskeletons are constructed of chitin containing
crystalline calcium phosphate as a strengthening material.
Dig deeper and thing does it help with the calcium structure
of corals just as much as it help insects and humans?
The production of the calcareous skeleton of stony corals is significantly inhibited by high phosphate levels, but most of the more sensitive soft corals don’t react happily to high phosphate levels as well. Therefore, such high concentration should be avoided. But how high is high?
The water of natural coral reefs contains very little phosphate, typically around 0.005 ppm, significantly lower levels can result in a kind of coral bleaching (Tissue cannot regenerate anymore), and so this should be smallest desirable concentration.
Serious decrease of coral growth was detected at concentrations above 0.1 ppm. This can be considered ideally as the maximum level you should have in your reef tank with stony corals. 0.25 should do if you only have easy coral species, below 0.1 ppm seems mandatory for the more sensitive ones.
The bottom line is keeping a balance of phosphates in your
tank is essential. Nature has a funny way or working by using all available elements
to create or hamper life. It is up to us to make sure that what nature will not
balance naturally in an aquarium is monitored and controlled by us, the hobbyist.
Happy Reefing,
Vaquatics
No comments:
Post a Comment